Wednesday, August 29, 2012

The Next Summer Blockbuster From Alpha Boy

Alpha Boy's new full length album is to be unleashed upon the general public next week on the 4th of September and will be sure to break all opening day box office records. "Heroes On Tape" the records title and it spans the spectrum of 80s cinema gold. Alpha Boy's taken the feeling and spirit of many 80s movies and turned them into new synth odyssey's flavoured with his trademark sounds, along with some new thrills for even more excitement.

I've have had the chance to experience this LP in a private screening in Norman Knight's very own sprawling compound, something akin to Skywalker Ranch but with more neon. The time spent immersed in Heroes On Tape was stunning to behold, bringing back old memories and making lots of new ones. Synthetix definitely gives this album both thumbs well and truly up and applaudes the artist vision and execution of this wonderfully written music. There's lots of surprises along the way and I hope everyone gets to have another blockbuster experience courtesy of Norman Knight.

After the screening Norman and myself sat down in his luxuriously appointed drawing room to have a chat about Heroes On Tape in more detail.

The new record is themed around classic 80s movies and tv. Is this concept something you set out to do, or did it just happen?
It just happened. I was totally inspired by my favorite movies like "Black Moon Rising" and "The Karate Kid". And before I knew it was all finished.

You've taken this theme even further with the inclusion of samples, they're a big part of the new record. Your choices of them and placement in the music is perfectly done. How much effort was it to decide what samples you included?
Mostly it was so that the song was about 90% finished and then I gotten the feeling that 'this scene' from 'this movie' in there would fit now. But it was also very hard to decide which scene takes man because she had to fit well.

I can only imagine how hard it is to decide, have you been collecting samples of dialogue you'd like to use for a while now?No. I do not collect. Seeking to cut out everything then when I need it, for example from my Laserdiscs, VHS or Betamax.

Do you think this will become a part of the Alpha Boy sound, or is it something you're just experimenting with due to the concept of the album?I can not say for sure. But it has made me definitly very much fun to use the cut-outs.

Speaking of samples, that one at the end of Cops And Ninjas is easily my favourite, where did this come from ?Oh, this is also one of my favorite clips. It comes from the movie "Ninja: Silent Assassin"from the year 1987. This is definitely a cult film. Alpha Boy says: 80s TRASH MOVIES FOREVER!
By the way Rick, we two should open a own Ninja temple to train our Chi .

Hells yes!! I've been hunting down the classic mid 80s ninja movies and main place I've been able to track down the super rockin ones is Germany. The ninja craze was definitely a world wide phenomenon in the 80s, but was this even bigger in Germany?
I don't think so. These films came very late to Germany. And the most Ninja movies where dubbed much later into German. But I can imagine that there were definitely a few Ninja addicted Germans in the 80s.

The music on the new album feels more unfettered and unconstrained than the last album, you seem to be more experimental in sounds and arrangements, is this something you did to push your creativity, or is it a more natural evolution of your production?
Wow that's a great question. So I'll try to answer well. My compositions improved from song to song. I have every time other ideas and visions for my music. But I think all this is a natural evolution. It flows through me down. Ku Fung style.

It defintiely sounds natural, the Alpha Boy sound is very strong with Kung Fu spirit. You seem to gravitate towards the full length album release above singles, or EPs. Is this a way to keep the music more a of surprise to your listeners?
I've never tried to keep listeners. I always wanted to make music that I like myself and the way I would like is what I hope my fans want to hear, but I'm always happy when other people like my music. I released Ep's and Lp's for this reason because every time I want to tell a story with my tracks I think that one track is not enough to tell a the full story.

I know it can be disappointing when an album comes out from an artist I love, only to find there's only a few songs I'd not heard previously. Your choice for going from album to album definitely makes your music sound very fresh and vital, and full of surprises. But conversely to this, do you find it makes building a bigger fan base harder?
Yes, it may well be possible. Sure it makes it harder, but I'm not thinking about it. I would not deal with that because I would have been afraid to compose my music to please others and not me. Every one of my tracks is something very personal for me. I can only advise artists out there not to limit ideas and creativity because he might be afraid that it might not please the audience. This is not good. Do what you feel like. And if you like it then it will please the real fans.

Absolutely, Norman, I can say I found the Heroes On Tape album an absolutely stunning record. I wish you all the best with it. Anything you'd like to finish up with?
Thanks for this interview Rick, I will go now into the ninja temple to smash logs. It's been an honor to give Synthetix another interview. I wish all 80s fans a few sunny days and a lot of fun with my album. Enjoy all the rest of the summer. Fresh!

Thanks Norman, and keep on rockin my good man!

Heroes On Tape will be available on 04/09/2012 from Alpha Boy's Bandcamp here. Get your ticket to this summer's most rockin synth adventure blockbuster!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Synthetix.FM is dedicated exclusively to 80s inspired synth music. This music is my passion and Synthetix is all about sharing the love and appreciation for those who make this beautiful music and enlightening others to its wonder.

Synthetix.FM covers Synthwave, OutRun, Italo Disco, Dark Synth, Slash Electro, Electro Funk, Soundtrack Synth, Synth Romance, Synth Pop and any other denomination of synthesizer based music that is created as an homage to the classic 80s sounds and emotions.